Monthly Archives: July 2020

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Bleaching Non-Veneered TEeth

I just had four porcelain veneers placed and while I do like them, they are much whiter than my natural teeth. The difference is pretty obvious when I smile. I think I need to whiten my natural teeth but don’t know if that will damage my brand new veneers.

Cathey

Dear Cathey,

tooth bleaching trays

While any teeth whitening you do will not affect your porcelain veneers, I am a bit surprised your dentist didn’t have you do the whitening beforehand.

When you have porcelain veneers done, unless you have enough veneers to cover each tooth that is visible when you smile, which is almost always more than four teeth, it is standard operating procedure to whiten the teeth ahead of time.

One of the reasons we do the whitening first is because it is much easier to match porcelain veneers to teeth than it is to match your whitening to already established porcelain veneers.

This does give me some concern about your dentist’s knowledge of cosmetic work. One thing that will be especially important is when you go in for your next cleaning that they do not use anything like a power prophy jet or acidulated fluoride on your teeth.

This will completely remove the protective glazing from the veneers which will ruin them.

Best of luck and feel free to get your teeth whitened without the worry of damaging the veneers.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.

Dental implants

She’s PLaying with Fire with This Tooth Infection

I have an impacted wisdom tooth that is slightly infected. My ears hurt as a result. My dentist wants to take it out, which I’m fine with but I want him to take out that tooth and a tooth next to it that had a root canal treatment. He is refusing to take out the tooth with the root canal. I am likely going to wait until he changes his mind because I don’t want to go back and have the second procedure later, as I’m sure I will have to. I’d rather do them both at the same time. Is there any advice you can give me in the meantime?

Pamela

Dear Pamela,

I haven’t seen your x-rays, but I can’t imagine a dentist leaving an infected tooth in your mouth. He’d get to charge you for two extractions instead of one which could only bring him money. The only reason for him not to do that is because he has integrity. That is something to be thankful for.

My guess is nothing is wrong with the adjacent tooth so he doesn’t want to extract it unnecessarily.

Let’s say he did extract it, though. Unlike your wisdom tooth, the adjacent tooth would need to be replaced. Then, you are talking about needing to get a dental implant, something else your dentist could make money off of.

Don’t Wait on This Extraction

Unless there is something you haven’t mentioned to me, this tooth isn’t infected. If you continue to wait on the wisdom tooth extraction, you are putting yourself in danger.

Dental infections are considered dental emergencies because of their tendency to spread when left untreated. Think about how close your jaw is to your lungs, heart, and brain. You wouldn’t want an infection to end up there.

The fact that your ear is already hurting means it has started to spread. Please don’t put this off any longer.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.